Militants threaten to kill 9 hostages

SOME Ijaw militant youths yesterday threatened to kill the nine expatriate oil workers kidnapped penultimate Saturday if the Federal Government fails to meet their conditions very soon.

National Vice President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Comrade David Reje said in an interview with newsmen that the divide and rule tactic allegedly adopted by the Federal Government in negotiating the release of the hostages, would lead to nowhere.

“Peace would not return to Niger Delta until true federalism is adopted in Nigeria, outright killing of expatriate oil workers and not even abduction would be the hallmark”, he stressed.

Comrade Reje said people of the Niger Delta should be allowed to control their resources and pay taxes to the central government, because the people are tired of seeing their resource used to develop other areas while they languish in abject poverty.

“When an Ijaw man visits Abuja, he comes back with the mind of a wounded and cheated person and prepared to destroy because of his realization of his level of deprivation”, he noted.

He further said the Ijaw youths would not release the hostages until the conditions for their release are met. These, according to him, include that the Federal Government should ascertain the level of damage done by the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in Gbaramatu Kingdom.

He also stated that those children of Ijaw land killed by the military must be brought out alive and most importantly, the Federal Government should stop further military actions against the Ijaw people and should embark on demilitarization of the Niger �Delta. It is only when this conditions are met that we can negotiate and sign MoU (Memorandum of Understanding)”.

Comrade Reje also alleged that political leaders in President Olusegun Obasanjo administration also engaged in oil bunkering activities in the Niger Delta.

“Where are they getting the money for building refineries abroad, they sponsored bunkering activities and cast the blame on Ijaw youths”, he alleged.

He said the bunkering activities persist because those sent to check the act are neck deep in the activity, because they represent a higher interest in Abuja. “It is therefore wrong to assume that the Ijaw people are responsible for bunkering activity. Where would they get money to charter a vessel? Who are those buying the products and why are the security operatives put in place not arresting anybody? These and more the people should find out”, Reje added.

He further stated that the people were concerned about the white man held hostage but were not bothered about the Niger Delta man being killed on daily basis and whose land was being polluted by the multinational oil firms.

Help keep Oyibos OnLine independent. If you value our services any contribution towards our costs will be greatly appreciated.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.